Multi-product carton

ABSTRACT

A dual compartmented carton adapted to hold two or more items that might be of different size and shape wherein the carton contains an exposed tray-like upper portion for packaging one or more of the items completely visible to the consumer, and an enclosed lower portion for packaging the other items. The carton is constructed from a one-piece blank of material such as paperboard or the like so that the two portions are isolated from one another by a carton partition element or panel.

United States Patent 11 1 Forbes, Jr.

Filed:

MULTI-PRODUCT CARTON Hampton E. Forbes, .lr., Wilmington, Del.

Assignee: Westvaco Corporation, New York,

Nov. 30, 1972 Appl. No.: 310,761

Related 1.1.8. Application Data Division of Ser. No. 136,917, April 23,1971, Pat. No. 3,744,650.

lnventor:

us. on 206/4514, 206/4519, 206/485 1111. c1 B656 5/511 Field 61 Search206/45. 14, 45.19, 45.31, 206/46 R, 47 R,'65 c, 77; 229/16 1), 27, 34my, 39 B, 15

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 11/1942 Flick 219/34 HW 1451 May2s, 1974 2,536,990 1/1951 Williamson 206/4514 X 2,937,743 5/1960 Butteryet a1. 206/4514 3,220,632 11/1965 Persson 206/4514 X 3,246,738 4/1966Weiss et a1 206/4514 X 3,570,658 3/1971 Swanberg 206/4519 X PrimaryExaminer-William 1. Price Assistant Examiner-Steven E. lLipman [5 7AESTRACT A dual compartmented carton adapted to hold two or more itemsthat might be of different size and shape wherein the carton contains anexposed tray-like upper portion for packaging one or more of the itemscompletely visible to the consumer, and an enclosed lower portion forpackaging the other items. The carton is constructed from a one-pieceblank of material such as paperboard or the like so that the twoportions are isolated from one another by a carton partition element orpanel. 1

4 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures MULTI-PRODUCT CARTON This application is adivision of the copending application Ser. No. 136,917, filed Apr. 23,1971 now U.S. Pat. No. 3,724,650.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION The present invention relates generally to aonepiece collapsible carton and is particularly concerned with apaperboard carton that is constructed and arranged to hold at least twoseparate items in separate compartments within the same package. Theitems may be the same or similar, or, may be of different kind, sizeand/or shape and still be accommodated by the carton constructionanticipated.

From time to time it has been found desirable to package at least twoitems in a single carton so that they may be sold together. Such anarrangement is particularly useful where the seller desires to introducea new product on the market and as a means of introduction gives asample package of the new product-to a customer purchasing an older orbetter known product. In many instances the two items are not exactly ofthe same shape or they are of different size. For example, certain typesof washing powders or detergents have been sold in combination with acan of scouring powder or the like. Similarly it is not unusual to findmultipaks of different womens cosmetics being sold on the shelf. As aresult of these combination sales, the items are often difficult tosupport in a package in side-byside relation, and it is difficult toretain both of the items in the same package. Accordingly, the presentinvention was devised to hold at least two items in separatecompartments of the same package, and in the construction disclosed, theitems may be of the same type, or of materially different size andshape, and at least one of the packaged items is preferably exposed forviewing by the consumer.

An object of the present invention resides in the provision ofa simplepaperboard carton comprising a traylike upper portion and an enclosedlower portion in combination for retaining two items for sale which arereadily handled and sold as a unit.

A feature of the carton described herein resides in the provision ofapackage which is extremely inexpensive to produce and which can be madeon readily available equipment. Moreover, the carton of the presentinvention is capable of being filled and assembled either by hand or onhigh speed packaging machinery. In addition, the carton is capable ofbeing shipped in a flattened or collapsed condition to minimize costs ofhandling and shipping a supply of the cartons to the packager.

A further object of the present invention is the feature whereby eachcompartment of the carton may be especially formed to receive aparticular size and shape article with at least one of the articlesbeing advantageously displayed.

Accordingly, it is a feature of this invention to provide an improvedcarton for packaging two or more related but dissimilar articles, aswell as articles generally, wherein the container is provided withunique compartment and shelf means therewithin to support such items.

In at least one embodiment of the present invention the carton isdesigned to contain as a first item. a can or the like in the exposedupper tray-like portion of the package with an enclosed space in thelower portion of the carton for housing the second item completelyisolated from the first item. The outer or remote ends of the can or thelike are held engaged in the carton or tray by means of tabs which enterthe chimed ends of the cans to hold these ends from removal. The tabsmay be formed as a part of any one of the end closure flaps of thecarton as shown in the drawings. Each tab is provided with arcuate edgeswhich are designed to engage In other embdiments of the presentinvention, the package is designed to hold specific items of any desiredshape in the upper tray-like portion of the carton by means of carefullyshaped slots formed in the tab like elements attached to any one of theend closure flaps of the carton. Of course, in each of the embodimentsdiscussed thus far, the lower portion of the carton remains completelyenclosed for retaining the second item isolated with regard to the firstitem.

Other and distinct embodiments of this invention employ different meansfor closing the ends of the novel carton disclosed herein includingdifferent means for obtaining access to the enclosed lower portion ofthe carton. However, each and every embodiment of the inventiondisclosed herein retains the basic novel concept of providing a dualcompartmented carton having an exposed tray-like upper portion with anenclosed lower portion wherein the two portions are isolated from oneanother by a carton partition element or panel.

These and other objects and novel features of the present invention willbe more clearly and fully set forth in the following specification andclaims.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS DETAILED DESCRIPTION While the various featuresof this invention are hereinafter illustrated and described as beingparticularly adaptable for packaging at least two or more related butdissimilar articles including cans, as well as for packaging similararticles or the like in combination, it

is to be understood that the various features of this in-.

vention can be utilized singly or in combination to provide cartons forother articles as desired. Accordingly, this invention is not to belimited to only the embodiments illustrated in the drawings because thedrawings are merely utilized to illustrate examples of the wide varietyof uses of this invention.

In the exemplary embodiments of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 14,an improved carton for packaging two or more articles is shown.Moreover, for this first embodiment of the present invention, the cartonis illustrated as having a lower, enclosed compartment 3 and an upper,exposed tray-like compartment 5.

Referring now to the drawings in detail and particularly to FIG. 1,there is shown a flat blank of paperboard or the like which is cut andscored to form the container illustrated in FIG. 2. The paperboard is ofa conventional type and may be coated one side or both, and/or printedas desired for the ultimate end use. As shown in FIG. 1, the blankincludes a plurality of main panels 10, l2, l4 and 16 separated from oneanother by fold lines or the like. Panels 14, I2 and 16 also haveattached to their respective ends along fold lines, pairs of end closureflaps 30, 26 and 28. Meanwhile, panel 14 also has attached along itsrespective sides the secondary panels 20. These latter panels'20 areshown as being attached to the main panels along suitable fold lines andmay be referred to as adhesive panels since they ultimately are adheredto the respective main panels l2 and 16 in the final configuration.Moreover, the secondary panels 20 which form the inside walls of thedouble thickness sidewalls of the upper exposed traylike compartment 5,give the upper edges thereofa finished surface along the fold lines 23and 27 as shown in FIG. 2.

As shown in FIG.2, the blank is folded and glued before being filled andclosed either by hand or on properly programmed folding and gluingmachinery. In most instances, the blanks are printed with theappropriate identifying matter and advertising information and thenshipped to the user in a pre-glued flat form. The user then need onlyfill the carton before securing the end closure flaps.

The carton is filled by initially placing one of the articles to bepackaged within the enclosed compartment 3 (FIG. 4) prior to foldingtheclosure flaps 24, 26, 28 into closed condition. With the first itemenclosed as described it is only necessary to insert the second articleinto the exposed tray-like compartment 5 as hereinafter described.

The embodiment of the present invention illustrated the lower enclosedcompartment 3 after the product is stored therein. The blank isillustrated in FIG. 1 and it includes the usual panels l0, l2, l4 and 16which form the bottom wall, a sidewall, the intermediate divider walland a second sidewall. respectively, of the carton illustrated in FIG.2. End closure flaps 26 and 28 are shown attached to the panels 12 and16, and combination end closure flaps 30, 60 and a tuck closure flap 62are shown attached to each end of the panel 14. The product retainingflaps 30 are each shown as having cut-outs 38 therein for accepting in amoreor-less fixed position the item packaged in the exposed compartment5.

The carton blank is initially applied with adhesive along the insidefaces of each of the secondary panels 20 and panel 14 is reverse foldedalong fold line 2] as the right panel 20 is folded about fold line 23 tobe adhered to panel 12. Then panel is folded about fold line 25 toexpose the outside face of glue flap l8. Adhesive is next applied toflap l8 and panel 16 is folded about fold line 27 to adhere the insideface of panel 16 to both the left panel and the glue flap 18. Accord- 4-ingly, the carton shown in FIG. 2 is obtained and need only then beset-up for filling and closing. Of course, for this embodiment, a singleglue station could be used with both top and bottom glue pots for theapplication of adhesive to both panels 20 and glue flap 18.

The filling and closing of the carton of FIG. 2 is accomplished with asimple tuck style flap arrangement associated with the product retainingpanels 30. The product retaining panels 30 assume an angularrelationship to the carton divider wall 14 and break at the fold line 59to provide the end walls 60 separated from the tuck flap 62 by the foldline 61. The product retaining cut-outs 38 in panels 30 are adapted tobe tailored for the desired product to be displayed, and, the articlestored in the enclosed compartment 3 is securely held in place inisolated relation to the article in compartment 5. As in the case of theother embodiments. of this invention disclosed herein, the entirepackage would then preferably be wrapped for display and sale.

FIGS. 3 and 4 of the present invention disclose a modification of thecarton disclosed herein which incorporates the best features of theinvention as shown in FIGS. l-2. That is, the'carton disclosed in FIG. 4is set-up and glued in substantially the same manner that the cartondisclosed in' FIG. 2 is set-up and glued, and, the carton of FIG. 4 canbe loaded and closed substantially like the carton of FIG. 2. Of course,the reference characters used in FIGS. 3 and 4 designate similarelements in the blank structure disclosed in the other embodimentherein. Accordingly, the main panels l0, l2 and 16 still correspond tothe bottom and two sidewalls of the carton whilethe panel 14 retains itsidentity as the carton intermediate dividing wall which separates thecarton into two distinct compartments. Only one secondary panel 20 isshown as being attached between the main panels 14 and 16 with a closureor glue flap being attached to the free edge of panel 14. A secondaryflap 40 is shown attached to the free edge of panel 12 and for thismodification the secondary flap 40 is shaped like the integral secondarypanel 20, but, in ad dition thereto, includes an extension that is thesame size as the closure flap 18. Therefore, because of this addedfeature, the modification shown in FIG. 4 incorporates an improvedrunnability feature.

The carton of FIG. 4 is formed by pre-applying adhesive to the insidesurfaces of panels 20 and 40 with a pair of top glue pots whilesimultaneously applying adhesive to the outside surface of closure flap18 with a bottom glue pot. The blank is then folded into the desiredconfiguration by initially folding secondary flap 40 into contact withthe inside of panel 12 while simultaneously folding secondary panel 20over into contact with the inside of panel 16 to expose the adhesiveapplied side of closure flap 18. Obviously these two folds could be madeseparately, but for the sake of efficiency they are preferably madesimultaneously. These two folds, of course, yield a partially assembledcarton blank which will have a tray-like upper portion with doublethickness side walls and smooth upper edges. Finally, the constructionis completed by folding the double thick side wall comprising panel 12and secondary flap 40 over and into contact with exposed adhesiveapplied side of closure flap 18. Thereby, the glue flap 18 is adhereddirectly to the extension element of secondary flap 40 which waspreviously adhered to the panel 12. This scheme yields the desiredimproved runnability as described hereinbefore. Thus, the cartonstructure of FIG. 4 is completed prior to being filled and closed.

For this latter function, it should be noted that the carton of FIG. 4,like the carton of FIG. 2, is susceptible to being loaded both top andbottom from the end with one end closure flap open for the purpose. Afurther feature of the cartons of both FIGS. 2 and 4 lies in the factthat the end panels 30 and 22 respectively may contain one or moreopenings for retaining therein one or more examples of the productexposed for view. The carton of FIG. 4 is moreover, especially usefulfor packaging fragile items since the partition panel 14 serves as acushioning member between the product and the bottom of the carton.Furthermore, experience has shown that the displayed item when endloaded in the carton makes the carton more pilfer proof in the absenceof an overwrap.

In the detailed description of the two embodiments of this invention,the different panels have been described as being folded in a particularmanner to yield the carton structures illustrated. It should beapparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that other and differentschemes could be advantageously used to achieve the same results asobtained herein. That is, a combination of the different features shownin the different embodiments could be interchanged for packagingspecific articles within the scope of the invention as disclosed. Inthat connection, the termsfbottom, side walls' and end flaps and thelike have been utilized in the description for the sake of continuityand to define the position of the respective elements as shown in thedrawings. These definitions should by no means be considered limiting.

The different modifications and embodiments disclosed herein illustratehow the principles of this invention can be achieved in a variety ofways all within the scope of the invention as defined in the appendedclaims.

I claim:

1. A dual compartmented carton formed from paperboard or the likecomprising:

a. a single blank of material scored to form a plurality of main panelsseparated from one another along parallel fold lines and a cartonclosure flap connected to one of said main panels;

b. said main panels including a bottom wall, a pair of sidewalls and anintermediate wall which divides the carton into an upper exposedtray-like com partment and a completely enclosed lower compartment, saidsidewalls being common to both the completely enclosed lower compartmentand the upper tray-like compartment, with the intermediate wall of thecarton serving as both the top of the completely enclosed lowercompartment and the bottom of the said tray-like upper compartment;

0. first and second end closure flaps integral with one another andconnected to the intermediate wall of said carton for enclosing the endsof said lower compartment and said upper tray-like compartment, saidfirst and second end closure flaps being angularly related to oneanother and to the intermediate wall of said carton;

cl. said second end closure flaps forming finished upper edges for eachend of said upper tray-like compartment at the point where said secondend clsoure flaps are integrally joined to said first end closure flapsand including cutout means integral therewith for retaining one or moreproducts securely located in the upper tray-like compartment; and,

e. a pair of secondary panels connected along fold lines to one of saidmain panels to form both sidewalls of said upper tray-like compartmentof double thick material with finished upper edges.

2. The carton of claim 1 wherein the secondary panels are connected toeach side of said intermediate panel.

3. The carton of claim 1 wherein the secondary panels are connected tothe edges of said sidewall panels.

4. The carton of claim 3 wherein one of said secondary panels includesan extension which overlaps the carton closure flap connected to one ofsaid main panels.

1. A dual compartmented carton formed from paperboard or the likecomprising: a. a single blank of material scored to form a plurality ofmain panels separated from one another along parallel fold lines and acarton closure flap connected to one of said main panels; b. said mainpanels including a bottom wall, a pair of sidewalls and an intermediatewall which divides the carton into an upper exposed tray-likecompartment and a completely enclosed lower compartment, said sidewallsbeing common to both the completely enclosed lower compartment and theupper tray-like compartment, with the intermediate wall of the cartonserving as both the top of the completely enclosed lower compartment andthe bottom of the said tray-like upper compartment; c. first and secondend closure flaps integral with one another and connected to theintermediate wall of said carton for enclosing the ends of said lowercompartment and said upper tray-like compartment, said first and secondend closure flaps being angularly related to one another and to theintermediate wall of said carton; d. said second end closure flapsforming finished upper edges for each end of said upper tray-likecompartment at the point where said second end clsoure flaps areintegrally joined to said first end closure flaps and including cutoutmeans integral therewith for retaining one or more products securelylocated in the upper tray-like compartment; and, e. a pair of secondarypanels connected along fold lines to one of said main panels to formboth sidewalls of said upper traylike compartment of double thickmaterial with finished upper edges.
 2. The carton of claim 1 wherein thesecondary panels are connected to each side of said intermediate panel.3. The carton of claim 1 wherein the secondary panels are connected tothe edges of said sidewall panels.
 4. The carton of claim 3 wherein oneof said secondary panels includes an extension which overlaps the cartonclosure flap connected to one of said main panels.